U.S.S. Oriskany (CV-34)
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History
United States
Name: U.S.S. Oriskany
Namesake: Battle of Oriskany, 1777
Ordered: 7 August 1942
Builder: New York Naval Shipyard
Laid down: 1 May 1944
Launched: 13 October 1945
Commissioned: 25 September 1950
Decommissioned: 2 January 1957
Recommissioned: 7 March 1959
Decommissioned: 30 September 1976
Reclassified: CV to CVA 1 October 1952, CVA to CV 30 June 1976
Struck: 25 July 1989
Nicknames: Mighty O, the O-boat
Fate: Sunk as part of a pilot program to create artificial reefs 17 May 2006
General characteristics
Class and type: Essex class aircraft carrier (Ticonderoga class)
Displacement: As built: 30,800 tons
Length: As built: 888 feet (271 m) 911/ft. Overall, 23 foot catapult extensions
Beam: As built: 129 feet (39 m) overall
Draft: As built: 30 feet 6 inches (9.30 m) maximum
Propulsion: As designed: 8 boilers 565 psi (3,900 kPa) 850 °F (450 °C), 4 Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 4 shafts, 150,000 shp (110 MW)
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h)
Range: 20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement: As built: 2,600 officers and enlisted
Armor: As built: 2.5 to 4 inch (60 to 100 mm) belt, 1.5 inch (40 mm) hangar and protective decks, 4 inch (100 mm) bulkheads, 1.5 inch (40 mm) STS top and sides of pilot house, 2.5 inch (60 mm) top of steering gear
Aircraft carried: As built: 90 - 100 aircraft, 1 deck edge elevator, 2 centerline elevators

The U.S.S. Oriskany (CV/CVA-34) nicknamed Mighty O, and occasionally referred to as the O-boat was one of the few Essex class aircraft carriers completed after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was named for the Battle of Oriskany during the Revolutionary War.

The history of Oriskany differs considerably from that of her sister ships. Originally designed as a “long hulled” Essex class ship (considered by some authorities to be a separate class, the Ticonderoga class) her construction was suspended in 1946. She eventually was commissioned in 1950 after conversion to an updated design called SCB-27 “27 - Charlie”, which became the template for modernization of 14 other Essex class ships. Oriskany was the final Essex class ship completed.

She operated primarily in the Pacific into the 1970s, earning two battle stars for service in the Korean War, and five for service in the Vietnam War. In 1966 one of the worst shipboard fires since World War II broke out on Oriskany when a magnesium flare was accidentally ignited; forty-four men died in the fire.

Oriskany's post service history also differs considerably from that of her sister ships. Decommissioned in 1976, she was sold for scrap in 1995, but was repossessed in 1997 because nothing was being done. In 2004 it was decided to sink her as an artificial reef off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. After much environmental review and remediation to remove toxic substances, she was carefully sunk in May 2006, settling in an upright position at a depth accessible to recreational divers. As of 2008, Oriskany is the largest vessel ever sunk to make a reef.

Oriskany has been featured in films such as Men of the Fighting Lady and The Bridges at Toko-Ri from 1954 and What Dreams May Come (1998). In March, 1952, the ship hosted a dance performance on deck by the Ballet Theater of New York (now the American Ballet Theatre), featuring prima ballerina Mary Ellen Moylan, which was captured in a series of photos shot by renowned New York street and fashion photographer Louis Faurer and sponsored by Life magazine.